NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with catch wrestler Kyle Johnson.

Originally trained in the martial arts of Tae Kwon Do, Tang Soo Do, Aikido, Capoeira, and Sanda, he has now been training in catch wrestling both at Catch Wrestling Los Angeles and at the Snake Pit Japan.

He will be wrestling on the card of the Catch Wrestling Alliance International Invitational: The Rebirth.

This event will take place Saturday, June 7, in Collins Court in the John Wooden Center on the campus of UCLA, at 221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90095-1612.

This invitational event will be held under catch wrestling rules, where you can only win by pin or submission. His opponent will be announced shortly.

We spoke with Kyle Johnson by phone Wednesday.

Discussing the rapid growth in popularity of catch wrestling and his training at Catch Wrestling Los Angeles, he said, "We've been having a lot of students becoming more and more interested in this now, and classes are being pretty much filled to capacity. We're running out of space. And I'm just wondering, why is the timing right now? Why did I fall into this at this point in time?"

He continued, "I think the sentiments that I share with catch wrestling are shared by a lot of people who are looking for something.

"Catch wrestling is very substantial to me. It's the first time when I felt like, this is a really, a tough, a tough art. It's not for someone who wants to come in there looking flashy. It's a lot of pain. There's a lot of technique that you have to practice very, very thoroughly to pull off effectively, not hurt yourself, not hurt your partner, too."

We discussed how he has made the transition to catch wrestling from the other martial arts in which he trained, despite having no wrestling or grappling background beforehand. He noted that he "felt something was missing" in his previous training, especially some years ago while watching Pride FC MMA events from Japan.

One of the highlights of his training was being allowed in to the prestigious Snake Pit Japan. There he trained under Yukou Miyato, and often worked with professional fighters. He explained how he came to be accepted there, and that people "just can't walk in there" without a good background.

Catch wrestling, he said, has the potential "to be the next big thing." We also discussed how it is an art form, how his training in catch wrestling under Raul Ramirez has helped him, how catch wrestling needs to be organized and marketed properly, and much, much more.

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No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City July 26 and 27, 2014, for the fifth annual MMA World Expo, featuring the Fighters Source U.S. Nationals amateur MMA tournament, two days of ADCC no-gi and gi grappling tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27, 2014, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: Catch Wrestling Los Angeles, Eddie Goldman, Kyle Johnson, No Holds Barred, Snake Pit Japan